This book takes us on a journey through three thousand years of history, showing us men and women searching for God and finding the answers to their quest in an amazingly diverse variety of life experiences.

The author introduces us to pagan Greeks and Romans, ancient Hebrew authors, Christians (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant) from all periods of history, the physicists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, the mathematician Kurt Gödel, existentialist philosophers, process theologians, New Thought teachers, and the great spiritual masters of the modern twelve step program.

Originally published in 2003 as On the Military Firing Line in the Alcoholism Treatment Program, by Sgt. Bill S. with Glenn F. Chesnut

The great spokesman for that wing of early A.A. which stressed the psychological rather than the spiritual side of the program, Sgt. Bill Swegan (along with world famous psychiatrist Dr. Louis Jolyon West at UCLA) was the developer in 1953 of what became the Lackland-Long Beach Method for alcoholism treatment.

"Here under one cover is Kurtz at his best: historian, gadfly, teacher, interpreter, and master storyteller .... This is must reading for any student of Alcoholics Anonymous and the evolution of spirituality in America."

William L. White, author of Slaying the Dragon: The
History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America

Particularly in its new and revised version this little book, though short, is one of the best and most insightful works ever written on the sense of shame -- feeling bad about our lives and what we perceive as our failures -- that inner pain which haunts so many alcoholics and addicts and so many other human beings.

And from his deep wisdom and accumulated experience, Kurtz also tells us how the twelve step program can be used to heal that sense of worthlessness and fear of abandonment, and restore us to lives that are happy, joyous, and free.

"Each century produces a small handful of great spiritual books. I believe strongly that Changed by Grace is going to prove one of the greatest of our present century. The best way to describe it is to say that it does for us today what William James' Varieties of Religious Experience did for the world of a hundred years ago."
-- John Barleycorn in the Waynedale News

"I can honestly state that this book is one of the most practical books I have ever read. It allows one to approach spirituality from ANY perspective and, at the same time, inspires confidence in the method .... This book can save a life without a doubt!"

George J. Dagis (Saugerties NY)

"As an old hard-bitten, somewhat cynical surgeon I started reading it with a very critical attitude which quickly evaporated and I found much to admire and practically nothing to criticize .... I wish the book had been available for the many questions that my alcoholic sailors had that I could not answer. You make the Twelve Steps good medicine for a host of problems."

Captain Joseph Zuska, M.D., who founded the world famous
Navy alcoholism treatment program at Long Beach in 1965

"This book was designed to gently lead people who are antagonistic toward traditional religious language into a deeper understanding of what those spiritual concepts are actually about, and how they help the everyday working of a good twelve-step program."

"It should be required reading for anyone who wants to become a chemical dependency counselor. It makes the process of the spiritual awakening within the context of the twelve step program understandable to both professionals and lay person."

Lori Croy, psychiatric nurse, Elkhart, Indiana

Mel B., Three Recovery Classics: As a Man Thinketh (by James Allen), The Greatest Thing in the World (by Henry Drummond), An Instrument of Peace (the St. Francis Prayer), September 2004, ISBN 0-595-32631-5, vi + 92 pp., $11.95 U.S. click here for more

Two of the major books recommended to newcomers in early AA, in both Akron and elsewhere: James Allen (New Thought, similar to Emmet Fox's Sermon on the Mount, but shorter and simpler) and Henry Drummond (commentary on 1 Corinthians 13).

Glenn F. Chesnut, The Factory Owner & the Convict, Vol. 1 of Lives and Teachings of the A.A. Old Timers, April 2005, ISBN 0-595-34872-6, xii + 325 pp., $23.95 U.S. click here for more

"From one sentence to the next my head was nodding and silently screaming YES, YESSS, YESSSSS, that's exactly what I've observed about alcoholics and alcoholism."
-- John S. of the "John Barleycorn" recovery column in the Waynedale News

Ken Merrill (one of the great oldtimers who took the psychological approach) and Nick Kowalski (one who took the spiritual approach), plus the stories of one of the two most famous early A.A. prison groups, and one of the earliest black A.A. groups in the U.S.

Glenn F. Chesnut, The St. Louis Gambler & the Railroad Man, Vol. 2 of Lives and Teachings of the A.A. Old Timers, June 2005, ISBN 0-595-34878-5, xvi + 308 pp., $22.95 U.S. click here for more

"This book describes the way alcoholics actually think better than anything I have ever read."
-- William E. Correll (Life Treatment Center)

A.A. groups still make pilgrimages once a year to honor the memory of the great A.A. teacher Brownie. Plus Ellen Lantz (an early woman in A.A.) who talks about about the power of love, the gentle voice of Ed Pike who quiets and calms our souls, and the pithy sayings of the colorful, unforgettable Goshen Bill.

Richard M. Dubiel, The Road to Fellowship: The Role of the Emmanuel Movement and the Jacoby Club in the
Development of Alcoholics Anonymous, January
2004, ISBN 0-595-30740-X, xvi + 192 pp., $17.95 U.S. click here for more

The only two groups in the early twentieth century who rivaled A.A. in successfully getting alcoholics sober, with a study of their relationship to early A.A. via Rowland Hazard III, Richard Peabody, and early Boston A.A. and the Twenty-Four Hour book.

Nancy Olson, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: The Politics of Alcoholism, March
2003, ISBN 0-595-27037-9, xxxiv + 534 pp., $30.95 U.S. click here for more

How a small band of A.A. members, including Senator Harold Hughes and Mrs. Marty Mann, got the Hughes Act passed through the U.S. Senate -- the most important legislation on alcoholism in the twentieth century, far more important than the Prohibition Movement, and the basis of the modern alcoholism treatment center.

Annette R. Smith, Ph.D., The Social World of Alcoholics Anonymous: How It Works, December 2007, ISBN 978-0-595-47692-3, xx + 150 pp., $15.95 U.S. click here for more

"With astute application of sociological concepts, Annette Smith .... reveals that a combination of frequent meetings, the Twelve Steps, an encompassing concept of God and the pressure of groups and mentors that are integral to the A.A. program, have the unintended consequence of creating a 'larger whole than the sum of its parts.' A.A. members find themselves in a social world offering individuals of diverse personality types an ongoing sense of belonging."

Jacqueline P. Wiseman, Ph.D., author of Stations of
the Lost: The Treatment of Skid Row Alcoholics

A GUIDEBOOK TO RECOVERY FOR BEGINNERS: An old-timer answers basic questions about alcoholism and sobriety.

I think I have a drinking problem? What do I do?
How does A.A. work? What are the meetings like?
What is a sponsor? What are the Twelve Steps?
Are there answers other than A.A.?
What about alcoholics who are also manic-depressive (bipolar)?

Early books by Glenn F. Chesnut (from the 1980's)
on Christian history and theology

"With this revised edition ... the best book in English on the historians of earlyChristianity has become the best book on the subject in any language."
-- Dennis E. Groh, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

The changing interpretations of the person and work of Christ down through the past two thousand years: the meaning and purpose of his sacrifice on the cross, the significance of the title "Messiah," and differing understandings of the relationship between the human and the divine in Christ.

INDEX

A.A. historical materials and articles
on history and spirituality on this website
(CHRONOLOGICAL by date of posting)

12/6/08 "A Brief History of Alcoholics Anonymous in Richmond, Indiana (Including Surrounding Communities)," compiled and written by Bob S. and edited by Barb A.

12/6/08 Bruce C. (Muncie, Indiana), "A Brief History of A.A. in Delaware County in Indiana," how A.A. began in Muncie and the surrounding parts of east central Indiana, including Union City, Dunkirk, Hartford City, Winchester, New Castle, Yorktown, Montpelier, Anderson, Marion, Richmond, and Cambridge City. New revised version, March 27, 2008.

12/2/06 Cora Finch, "Stellar Fire: Carl Jung, a New England Family, and the Risks of Anecdote," link to her account on the Stellarfire website of Rowland Hazard's life and struggles with alcoholism, and the evidence proving that he was Carl Jung's patient in 1926, not 1931

3/25/05 "In Memoriam: Nancy Moyer Olson" (9/18/1929-3/25/2005)She was the founder of the AAHistoryLovers, author of With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: The Politics of Alcoholism, and the U.S. Senate aide who coordinated the passing of the Hughes Act, the most successful alcoholism legislation of the twentieth century.

3-24-05 The First edition of Ed Webster's Book on The Twelve Steps, later called The Little Red Book

3-21-05 Glenn C., "The Virtues and the Vices"

3-19-05 Founders Day in Minnesota 1946: photographs

3-12-05 Bar Room Reveries: the joke book Ed Webster published in 1958

3-3-05 John S. (Fort Wayne), "Dr. Zweig: The Good Physician"

3-3-05 Photos of Richmond Walker and His Family

2-28-05 Photos of Father Ralph Pfau from the Archdiocesan Archives in Indianapolis

4-17-04 "The Tools of Recovery," northern Indiana reading for the beginning of A.A. meetings

4-16-04 Richmond Walker, Memoirs

4-15-04 Glenn C., "Richmond Walker and the Twenty-Four Hour Book"

4-11-04 Nancy Olson, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: The Politics of Alcoholism

4-09-04 Alan P. (Simi Valley, California),
review of Glenn F. Chesnut, The Higher Power of the Twelve-Step Program: For Believers and Non-Believers, on Amazon.com

4-09-04 Sgt. Bill S. (Sonoma, California), review of Glenn F. Chesnut, The Higher Power of the Twelve-Step Program: For Believers and Non-Believers, in On the Military Firing Line in the Alcoholism Treatment Program

4-09-04 Richard M. Dubiel, The Road to Fellowship: The Role of the Emmanuel Movement and the Jacoby Club in the Development of Alcoholics Anonymous

4-09-04 Glenn C., The Higher Power of the Twelve-Step Program: For Believers and Non-Believers

4-09-04 Capt. Joseph Zuska, M.D., review of Glenn F. Chesnut, The Higher Power of the Twelve-Step Program: For Believers and Non-Believers